If you're going to be sarcastic, at least meet your goals. Rudy played Boki a grand total of 77 minutes his rookie year. Which is less than half, closer to 1/3, of what Boki has gotten this year (201 minutes) in which he's spent a good amount of time stashed away on IR. I see your and raise you a
For the people discussing who is a fool: the word is dregs. I don't understand the big uproar over JVG. If you watch the games, it sure looks like we get as many or more open shots than the other teams. How is it his fault that the players are missing them? Our only athletic players are Andre Barrett, TMac, Bobby Sura, and Boki. I like Boki, but it's alarming when he is in the list of the top 3 or 4 most athletic guys on your team. Our only players with a physical advantage over more than half the players in the league at their position are Yao and TMac. The rest are at a disadvantage or tied at best (Deke). On top of that, we traded 3 good starters for TMac plus two players who should NOT be starters for a decent team. Our only hope was that this randomly accumulated set of players just happened to be the right role players to surround Yao and TMac. It could have happened, but it didn't turn out that way. Then, to top it all off, MoT lost his game and JJ couldn't sink a 3 for the first 10 games. Sorry guys, I don't see how this makes a case for firing JVG.
there is no way you will get people to discuss something in a thread that has a ridculous title - if you want people to talk about Van Gundy - then the thread should say "Are we blaming TOO much on JVG???" I for one and lost for what the J and the D mean... but I have an idea about the "V" ...admit it tinman, you thought diana was a hottee !
My goals were met. I just didn't know you were here to try and make pointless posts. He wasn't expected to see a lot of PT his rookie year. What point are you trying to make saying that he's played more this year? This is his 3rd year he should be getting more PT by now. I'm so sorry if your so fond of JVG but to compare how much PT Boki is getting now compared to his rookie year is humorous.
did that make you feel good. . . . . trying to call me a fool that is T-mac won the Spurs game by playing OUTSIDE of JVG offense and the Hawks are the dreagues Rocket River
Thanks. . . . I was not sure on the spelling I think the big question is: If someone shoots lights out over here. . .under this coach but cannot hit the ocean from the beach for another coach Why is that? Same Shots Same amount of 'open'-ness yet they not going down . . . .the question is WHY Mo's game evidently was under JVG's tutelage or suggestions this summer but in the end. . .as i always say . . . we need more shooters Rocket River
Willis, The aliens matured faster when mixed with human dna. Wasnt Robert Englund in V? aka Freddy Kreguer?
Well, that is one of my fears about JVG. I just haven't seen enough data to convince me of the theory that JVG makes for bad FG%. The other is that he ends up alienating the team, but as long as he keeps the valuable players on his side, we can always ship out the malcontents. I think BSura is finally having the impact we needed him to have though. His athleticism was sorely missed at the beginning of the year, especially on a team as talent-deprived as we are.
...I think they just wanted another hottie on the show and yes, Freddie K was the goofy, but loveable alien that was sent to the US accidentally and didn't know English very well. (now watch this tie back to the Rockets) He was the BALKI of the "V" series ! don't be RE-DIC-U-LAZ tinman !
The negative effect that Van Gundy has on shooters is 3 fold. 1. He makes them work on defense and that takes away their legs. All good shooting starts with the legs. 2. He has screamed and hollered so much at them that they have a tendacy to be hesitant on the shot. Very devastating. 3. He has favored a slowed down very intricate offensive setup designed to wind down the shot clock. When this happens, sometimes the defense forces bad shots at the shot clock buzzer. And this also causes less easy baskets in transition which raise shooting percentages. Less layups and more difficult jumpers to beat the shot clock are recipes for lower shooting percentages. Not only this but players having to work hard on the defensive end and then work hard for 20 seconds on the offensive end, setting picks at the 3 point line and running from one side of the floor to the other before they are allowed to take a shot just contributes to wearing them down quicker and having tired players taking shots. These 3 factors lower shooting percentages significantly and collectively they can have a devastating effect on offensive play. I have been very negative about Van Gundy because of #2 and #3. However, after watching last night's game against the Warriors, I can see some progress on #3 and maybe a little bit of improvement on #2. He was still negative at the press conference about his team's mistakes, and was too hesitant to give out praise for good play, but he doesn't seem to be as bitterly negative as in the recent past. And of course, the faster paced game with the Rox getting out on the break and getting some easy hoops and some even easier half court set shots because of the uptempo style obviously helped our shooting percentages and our offensive effectiveness. I can accept #1. I want to see good team defense. So, it doesn't bother me that the players get worn down a little bit playing defense. The answer to this is to simply bring in better shooters and get them to play D. Because although their shooting percentages will decrease having to play defense, if they are better pure shooters than the role players we have now, then they will be more effective offensively. Combine this with the continued uptempo style, the push of the ball all the way into the paint, and we will be able to score more points and raise our shooting percentages. And if Van Gundy would get a lobotomy and actually become positive to the press about his players and the good things that they are doing, and if he continues to tell players like TMac to fire away and if he continues to trust Sura to drive the ball clear into the paint on the break, and make good decisions with the ball, then we will continue to see improvement. The question about Van Gundy is can he make these changes and make them for a long period of time such as the whole season, the playoffs, etc? Or will he revert back to Van Grumpyism, and berate his players to the press, and slow the ball up and torture the players by directing every pass, every dribble, and every shot? The time to yell and scream and stomp and snort is on the defensive end. As a coach, he has to get the effort out of them on the defensive end. But if he gets the effort on the defensive end, he should be satisified with it, and not berate them over an occasional missed assignment, blown switch, etc. If a player is playing hard for you, he most likely knows when he makes a mistake and if he doesn't know, the best thing that the coach can do is point it out to him while still recognizing that the player is working hard. Point it out in a positive way, like Rudy T used to do. Give him credit for hard work and tell him how to do it different the next time and be done with it. And the time to be supportive, understanding, encouraging, and more lenient is on the offensive end, where players egos and confidence are so paper thin, where if they fire up a couple shots and miss them, their whole game can go in the dumper because they are scared they are gonna get yanked, yelled at, or they are just plain nervous about missing 3 in a row. Let' em play man, let them find their game, and then work on molding that game and making it more efficient. Basketball is about offense, it is about scoring. Any 12 players in this league can get 70 points most nights and any 12 players in this league can get 100 points occasionally.........even if they didn't have a coach. And when you have players like TMac and Yao, highly skilled players, who can put the ball in the bucket and are not selfish about it, the best thing to do is to get their input and let them play, cover their weaknesses, and build your offense around them. The worst thing you can do is to point out their weaknesses and think that somehow you are going to transform them into something different than what they are. Let them play, give them their head, let them think and make decisions, and build the rest of the roster around them accounting for their weaknesses with other players and schemes that are designed to play to their strengths. To me, if Van Gundy can't figure this out by the end of this season, then he is primarily to blame. I'm willing to cut him some slack, but I am not willing to ignore what he is doing, positive and negative, that affects this team. We're gonna have 2 of the 5 all star starters coming from this team. The coach has to be responsible for our lack of success with talent like that. Even as poor as some of our bench players have been, we can't put the majority of the blame on them. They either believe and buy into Van Gundy or they don't. It's his job to make them believe by having the proper attitude himself and having the right system that brings about success.
You bring up some good points but this statement is a bit optomistic. If it is so "SIMPLE", then how come not all the teams in the NBA have a player with these attributes? As a matter of fact, there is not a lot of NBA players that can do both and if you want to pay for their services, you will have to pay a premium which is something we know CD is not willing to spend. Another road block is if CD is willing to pay, we don't have a lot of players to offer for a trade. I would love to have a player like that but to say that it is a simple task - I have to disagree.
I'm not talking about players that can play both. I'm talking about bringing in natural shooters like Kyle Korver for instance. Anybody could've had that guy. And working with those types of players to play defense. Shooting is a skill that can be found in 2nd round draft choices, witness Kyle Korver or in the NBDL like Sam Mack from the CBA. You bring them in with the draft, or from the development leagues, or from Europe, or through free agency with the MLE, and the Vets minimum exception, and through trades with the TE,............................and by taking them off IL. Or if your shooter on IL is not going to play for you because you don't like him, then trade him for one. My point was that you bring in the offensive player and help him play better defense. Van Gundy is a great defensive coach. Let him earn his money teaching players to play defense and then we have a better skill set on the offensive end.
By the way, I said I could live with #1. I think I'd be happy if Van Gundy was just able to deal effectively with #2 and #3. I think we would win a ton more ballgames and we could keep working with our talent to upgrade over the next couple years and get a championship. One thing about championship coaches is this. They may be butt kickers but they are positive people and their players want to play for them. I can't think of one coach that won a championship by projecting negativity and beating down their players all the time. Can you? I think Van Gundy has to change in this area or he will eventually lose this team, including Tmac and Yao, and he will never win the ultimate prize. I'm willing to give him the chance. I think he deserves it because he does work hard. But he has to realize that a major part of the transformation of this team to being winners starts with transforming his negative attitude and pessemistic nature to being a positive person with an optimistic outlook, looking for the bright spots and encouraging his players, not just jumping down their throats with every missed shot or turnover.
Ok. Good plan but how many of these good shooters has been converted to good defensive players? There is a reason why Piatkowski, Pedja, Glenn Rice, Steve Kerr, Glen Robinson, Ray Allen, Allan Houston, etc. (and the list goes on and on) have never been good defensive players. Why? Because it is not as easy and "SIMPLE" as you think. And if you find the player you want to mold, how are you going to get him? Not that simple.
Ok. Good plan but how many of these good shooters has been converted to good defensive players? There is a reason why Piatkowski, Pedja, Glenn Rice, Steve Kerr, Glen Robinson, Ray Allen, Allan Houston, etc. (and the list goes on and on) have never been good defensive players. Why? Because it is not as easy and "SIMPLE" as you think. And if you find the player you want to mold, how are you going to get him? Not that simple.
